Speaking at a pension forum in Fredericton Wednesday, Paul Moist said the CPP needs to be improved.

"Sixty-five per cent of the workforce has no pension plan and CPP expansion is the most viable alternative," Moist said.

He said the CPP is a good plan but it only replaces 25 per cent of a worker's income, so contributions should be increased.

Moist said the pension plan should be treated the same as health care.

"We should all have to pay, no choice, employers should have to contribute and we prepare ourselves for retirement where we're not a burden on one another."

But Ted Menzies, the federal minister of state for finance, said increasing CPP contributions would require the support of a majority of the provinces and that's not the case right now.

"Just recently we reviewed it with those finance ministers and it's in good shape but there was no consensus among those provinces, territories and the federal government to make any changes as an expansion of the Canada Pension Plan," said Menzies.

He said government must be careful not to do anything that could hurt the integrity of the pension plan.

Menzies said increasing CPP contributions would be particularly hard on self-employed individuals who pay both the employer and employee contribution.

He is encouraging the provinces to move ahead with legislation that allows for registered pooled pension plans.

That's a voluntary system that allows workers to contribute but doesn't require employers to chip in.

The federal government has passed legislation for the registered pooled pension plan concept.

Moist said the federal plan would be a failure from the start.

"The so-called pooled retirement pension plan is not compulsory for employers, they don't have to put a nickel in, and employees can opt out," Moist said. "It can't work and it won't work."

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Grant Street

February 20, 2013 - 16:28

So Mr. Moist has an incredibly rich federal pension that he does not contribute enough to and has not for years - along with all the other federal employees and we, the tax payer pay for that. Now his solution is that we all pay double, which he and his fellow federal employees can afford to do, and anyone who disagrees with his point of view is going to "fail".
Nice.